One man who was at the ground floor of Robin Williams' meteoric rise to fame was actor Henry Winkler, who played the iconic Fonzie on Happy Days with the late actor, and recalls to ET his friendship with Williams.

In 1978, Williams appeared on the hit TV show Happy Days as the wacky alien named Mork. It was a role that was originally meant to only be a dream, but Williams and his portrayal of Mork proved so popular that the character ended up getting a spin-off show called Mork & Mindy.

At the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Saturday, Winkler walked the red carpet and stopped to talk to ET's Brooke Anderson about seeing the start of Williams' legacy.

"I feel honored that I was there at the beginning," Winkler, 68, told ET. "I literally saw this lightning jump out of the bottle. Who knew? He was a guy hired to do a part they couldn't find an actor for, and all of a sudden there was this explosion in front of us."

Winkler also shared the one thing about Williams' that he will remember the most. "His warmth, his empathy, was quite amazing," Winkler said. "He was a citizen of the world."